17-year-old crafts ironing boards in his grandmother's backyard, impressing many in Mzansi.

• A 17-year-old turned his grandmother's home into a "gold mine" with his ironing board business
• The innovative teen sells his hand-made merchandise in his community and soon gained popularity for the quality of work that he produces
• Mpendulo Zulu's story was shared on Facebook and quickly went viral as Saffas supported the teen in their numbers, with those who knew him personally offering testimonies

Mpendulo Zulu made a mark for himself in his township of Umlazi in Durban where he sells his handmade ironing boards.

The business-minded teen also offered a value-added service for his customers by delivering their ironing boards at no charge to them.

Peeps were pleased with Mpendulo's progressive thinking and encouraged him to keep at it. Some who met him shared about his character and others shared the Facebook post, causing it to go viral.

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One of Mpendulo's happy customers, Cheryl VeyVeh Thabede praised his work:

"And I’m one of the happy customers. He personally delivered mine 2 weeks ago. He took a taxi to come to me to deliver after school hours. I wish him nothing but prosperity for the superb quality of his work, and incredibly good customer service."

Pathma Pillay wished him well:

"Superb, well done young man. May you grow from strength to strength."

Heather Lynette Samuels echoed the above sentiments:

"Well done young man. Wishing you every success in your business."

Mduduzi Ntuli vouched for Mpendulo's character

"Wonderful, I met this boy he is very good and he is going far, I wish he can be supported very much."

Thulani Rawe Mso shared a sobering message:

"Boy you such an inspiration to society and world ..South Africa need people like you because the education we have is not helpful..for 12 years in school and 3-4 years in tertiary still we can't fix cars we can't build house we can't create softwares we can fix phones all we do is to speak ENGLISH..keep it up boy."

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Exclusive: Inspiring teen starts own foundation with school money

Proving the lasting impact that teenagers can have in their communities, Briefly News reported that Boitshepo Nkwana was just 15 years old when he started the Nkwana Foundation. Now at 16, he hopes he can help more people. Boitshepo's story started when he lived with his aunt while schooling and used the money his mom sent him to help people in need.

Boitshepo said he would eat breakfast in the morning and during lunchtime, he would eat the food offered by his school. He wanted to save the money his mom gave him to help others. Fortunately, the young man managed to help a few families with his savings.

Boitshepo spoke to Briefly News about his childhood and the formation of Nkwana Foundation, a foundation that aims to change lives, make a difference in communities and equalise life at large.

Source: Briefly News